Category: News

“To Infinity And Beyond”

We have our military branches…Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard and now our president has ordered yet another branch of the military…a 6th branch……a Space Force.

Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard … and Space Force? President Trump, speaking at a meeting of the National Space Council at the White House Monday, ordered the Pentagon to create a sixth branch of the military, Politico reports. “We are going to have the Air Force, and we are going to have the Space Force, separate but equal,” Trump said. “It is going to be something so important.” He specifically asked Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford to oversee the process. “Our destiny beyond the earth is not only a matter of national identity, but a matter of national security, so important for our military and people don’t talk about it,” Trump continued. “When it comes to defending America, it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space, we must have American dominance in space.”

Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat and former astronaut, quickly tweeted that generals “don’t want” a space force. But some, including two Republican members of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, backed the initiative. Congress proposed, but ultimately rejected, a move to create a Space Corps within the Air Force while debating the fiscal 2018 defense policy bill; the House proposes the creation of a US Space Command in its version of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, but it’s not clear if that will remain in the final version of the bill. Neither of those proposals, however, is quite the same as the creation of a standalone Space Force military service, an idea Trump first proposed in March. CNN notes that such an idea has “drawn skepticism” from the Pentagon in the past, and the Washington Post says experts have pointed out Trump can’t create a new branch of the military without congressional approval.

Seriously?  Yet another military to be funded and not to worry the cowardly Congress will roll over and suck at the presidential teat….truly a group of cowards that do nothing but raise money and kiss up to the president.

BTW this is NOT a new idea at all……

The notion of a Space Force has long been bandied about in Washington. Last year, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama called for the formation of a space corps within the Air Force as a precursor to an independent service branch. (The Air Force, itself, was similarly established from the Army Air Corps.) The idea was shot down by Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who opposed the measure on the grounds that the military was trying to “reduce overhead,” and that a new branch would do just the opposite. Someone, however, must have made Trump think all of this was his idea. And now it’s policy.

http://theweek.com/articles/779779/does-america-really-need-space-force

Oh boy…..your child can grow up to be a Space Marine….bad enough that we are fighting on every continent on earth now Trump wants to extend it to space.

The beginnings of the Galactic Empire…..

A Space Force…..there are so many questions that need to be asked…….

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/18/17476266/trump-space-force-speech-questions

But his dream may be just that…a dream if the Congress does its job…that is…..

Creating a standalone service for space isn’t something the president can do on his own; he needs congressional authorization. But Monday’s announcement (here’s video, via Reuters), which follow broad endorsements of the concept by the Joint Chiefs’ office and various military branches, means that Senate holdouts who were taking their cues from the Air Force are likely to bow out of the fight.

That could clear the way for a Space Force to be in the 2019 defense authorization act, says Todd Harrison, who directs the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Aerospace Security Project.

https://www.defenseone.com/politics/2018/06/what-trumps-space-force-announcement-means/149093/

“I oppose the creation of a new military service and additional organizational layers at a time when we are focused on reducing overhead and integrating joint warfighting functions,” Mattis said in October in a memo to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Nothing could be more wasteful and redundant than creating a new branch of the military for space. There is no compelling reason to create a new branch of the military. It would mean expanding an already bloated military budget while breaking apart an existing branch just for the sake of doing it.

Adventurism knows no bounds, right?

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Why Are You Still On Facebook?

After Facebook was recently found to be allowing users stuff to go wherever someone wanted it…..they, meaning the Zuck, went before Congress and promised that all would be rectified….Facebook even has an ad out now apologizing and the promise to do better……it is a fake as the Wells Fargo apology.

But if you still think you need Facebook for whatever addiction you are feeding the here are a few of the things that you can look forward to from your new and improved Facebook…….

1. information from “computers, phones, connected TVs, and other web-connected devices,” as well as your “internet service provider or mobile operator”
2. “mouse movements” on your computer
3. “app and file names” (and the types of files) on your devices
4. whether the browser window with Facebook open is “foregrounded or backgrounded,” and time, frequency, and duration of activities
5. information about “nearby Wi-Fi access points, beacons, and cell towers” and “signal strength” to triangulate your location (“Connection information like your IP address or Wi-Fi connection and specific location information like your device’s GPS signal help us understand where you are,” said a Facebook spokesperson.)
6. information “about other devices that are nearby or on their network”
7. “battery level”
8. “available storage space”
9. installed “plugins”
10. “connection speed”
11. “purchases [users] make” on off-Facebook websites
12. contact information “such as an address book” and, for Android users, “call log or SMS log history” if synced, for finding “people they may know” (Here’s how to turn off contact uploading or delete contacts you’ve uploaded.)
13. information “about how users use features like our camera” (The Facebook spokesperson explained, “In order to provide features like camera effects, we receive what you see through camera, send to our server, and generate a mask/filter.”)
14. “location of a photo or the date a file was created” through the file’s metadata
15. information through your device’s settings, such as “GPS location, camera, or photos”
16. information about your “online and offline actions” and purchases from third-party data providers

17. “device IDs, and other identifiers, such as from games, apps or accounts users use”
18. “when others share or comment on a photo of them, send a message to them, or upload, sync or import their contact information”

Me?  I am not worried in the least for you see I have NEVER had a Facebook account and will NEVER have one in the future…..there is nothing so important that I need a FB account.

Now aren’t you glad you are sticking with Facebook?  Keep in mind that if you have ever had an account that they have your  number….still feel safe?

I see those “suckers” are still born every minute.

One more thing…..For 2020 Trump has teamed up with those that sucked up your info on Facebook……

A company run by former officials at Cambridge Analytica, the political consulting firm brought down by a scandal over how it obtained Facebook users’ private data, has quietly been working for President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election effort, the AP has learned. The AP confirmed that at least four former Cambridge Analytica employees are affiliated with Data Propria, a new company specializing in voter and consumer targeting work similar to Cambridge Analytica’s efforts before its collapse. The company’s former head of product, Matt Oczkowski, leads the new firm, which also includes Cambridge Analytica’s former chief data scientist. Oczkowski denied a link to the Trump campaign, but acknowledged that his new firm has agreed to do 2018 campaign work for the Republican National Committee.

Oczkowski led the Cambridge Analytica data team which worked on Trump’s successful 2016 campaign. The AP learned of Data Propria’s role in Trump’s re-election effort as a result of conversations held with political contacts and prospective clients in recent weeks by Oczkowski. In one such conversation, which took place in a public place and was overheard by two AP reporters, Oczkowski said he and Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, were “doing the president’s work for 2020.” In addition, a person familiar with Data Propria’s Washington efforts, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect business relationships, confirmed to the AP that Trump-related 2020 work already had begun at the firm along the lines of Cambridge Analytica’s 2016 work. Click for the whole story.

Maybe your stolen info can help re-elect…..

The Big Show Returns

It is Saturday and the World Cup is in full swing….we Americans call it soccer the rest of the world it is Football.  This is when the world’s nations meet and slug it out on the pitch to see which will become the world champion.

The venue is a different country every 4 years….the US last held the Cup play offs in 1994….and the Big Show will return to the US in 2026……

North American soccer fans have something to look forward to beyond Thursday’s kickoff of the World Cup in Russia. FIFA announced Wednesday that the US, Canada, and Mexico had beat out Morocco to play host to the 2026 sporting event, the first to be awarded to three countries and the first featuring Canada as host. The US will see the majority of the action, however, hosting 60 of 80 matches, including the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, per the New York Times. President Trump promised athletes would be able to enter the US “without discrimination” ahead of the decision, per CNN. The US last hosted the World Cup in 1994. Mexico hasn’t hosted the tournament since 1986.

Hopefully I will still be above ground to watch the games…..

I have stocked up on good beer and lots of snacks…..I will be watching…..go Iceland!

I have written about the game in the past…..it is one of the few sports that I can tolerate…..Formula One and Handball are the others that I can stomach.

https://lobotero.com/2010/07/11/this-is-why-soccer-rules/

Have a wonderful Saturday…..I hope you enjoy your day as much as I shall…..beer, snacks, and football….be well, be safe…..chuq

Planet Nine From Outer Space

This is not some SciFi flick from Bela Ligosi(?) back in the 30’s (?)….instead this Saturday I want to write about a recent astronomical discovery…..

An enormous planet containing 10 times the mass of the Earth could explain the unusual orbit of a newly discovered asteroid. If found, the giant world would represent the first discovery of a planet in our solar system since Pluto in 1930, and before that Neptune in 1846. (Pluto was subsequently downgraded from planet to “dwarf planet” in 2006.)

The asteroid in question is called 2015 BP519. It was discovered three years ago at fifty-five times the Earth’s distance to the sun. Since that time, a group of astronomers led by Juliette Becker of the University of Michigan have been tracking it.

They now conclude the space rock is following a highly unusual orbit that is most easily explained if the gravity of a large – as yet unseen – planet has pulled it into place.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/across-the-universe/2018/may/23/planet-nine-from-outer-space-is-there-another-world-beyond-neptune

Anybody remember a dude named Sitchin?

Followers and readers of Zecharia Sitchin will know that the information about Nibiru comes from the Sumerians and the writing and artifacts they, and other ancient people, left behind. The core premise he has made in his writings is that there is a 10th Planet (again, including Pluto) in our solar system with an elliptical orbit of about 3600 of our years. People from Nibiru came to Earth and discovered the gold they needed to help repair their atmosphere and they began mining it. Much of the knowledge of these ancient people, which they knew because the Anunnaki (those who from heaven to Earth came) told them, has come true, including the color and size of Neptune and Uranus, and the very existence of the outer planets, long before our telescopes could find them. Scientists even suspect another large object in the Kuiper Belt, which might be Nibiru. So let’s assume that the other writings also have merit.

According to Zecharia Sitchin, and discussed at length in his book, The End of Days, Nibiru is not due to come near Earth for at least several hundred more years. Although it is possible that celestial events have impacted Nibiru’s orbit and shortened its annual cycle from 3600 years to something less, we don’t need to worry about its presence near Earth for some time.

……..(Oh Hell read for yourself)

http://www.sitchin.com/

More fodder for the “Ancient Alien” crowd?  I mean these guys see shit everywhere….this could make their case for them….at least for awhile.

But what you guys feel about this….if anything.

My day has begun and I will make the most of it……please you guys do the same.

This From A Democracy

Keeping with the theme of the day….Israel, has been billed the ONLY democracy in the Middle East, that is the biggest damn lie on record.

Equality is part of the principles of a democracy……the US is one state vote away from ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)…..I bring this up because that fake democracy in the Middle East has offered its version of equality….the problem is there will be NO vote…..

Israel is an apartheid state, but you don’t have to take my word for it. All you have to do is take a look at the actions of the lawmakers in the Israeli Knesset, the national legislature of Israel.

On June 5, the Knesset issued a press release stating that its Presidium (a group consisting of the speaker and deputy speakers) voted to disqualify a proposed bill that called for Israel “to be defined as a state of all its citizens” to be placed on the Knesset’s agenda.

By its own admission, the Knesset mentioned that this was an “unusual move,” since it is the “first time proposed legislation has been disqualified before being discussed in the plenum (the entire assembly of Knesset members) during the past two Knesset terms.” This means that such a swift shooting down of legislation has not occurred in at least five years.

http://mondoweiss.net/2018/06/lawmakers-equality-introduced/

In a rare act, the Presidency of the Knesset (a ten-member group representing most parties) last week disqualified a bill moved by Israeli Palestinian parliamentarians from coming to a debate or vote. The bill in question was named “Basic Law: Israel [is a] State of All Its Citizens.”

As the names hints, the bill would have declared that Israel belongs not to its Jews but to all its residents. The Knesset Presidency decided the bill was too dangerous to come to a vote.

http://mondoweiss.net/2018/06/officially-declares-democracy/

That is right this nation of cowards and bullies will not let the chance of equality for its citizens to even come up for a vote.

So please stop calling this band of criminals a nation of democracy….they will NEVER be a democracy….at best just an extension of fascism.  Please stop using the “D” word when referring to Israel…the land hate created.

Closing Thought–13Jun18

How many of my readers have seen the movie “Iron Man”?  That super hero that does not have super powers just a fantastic suit that flies and carries weapons…..very cool to us geeks.

What a dream right?

Maybe not so much a dream as close to reality……say what?

Despite recent reports that Special Operations Command missed the initial deadline to deliver a prototype for the high-profile tactical assault light operator suit, command leadership is confident that it will test a powered exoskeleton by summer 2019, officials said this week.

Five years ago, then-SOCOM Commander Adm. William McRaven set a five-year deadline to develop a working prototype for a suit that would offer greater protection to operators while providing greater mobility and speed in a lighter frame. It is intended for the first commando to enter a room during a raid. Operators kicking down doors are particularly vulnerable to small arms fire and bomb blasts. The death of a special operator in such a screnario inspired McRaven to start the program in 2013.

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2018/5/24/socom-leadership-confident-of-delivering-talos-prototype-by-2019

If this will save lives while helping the mission to be a success then I am all for it…..the problem with it for me is that it may make entering into more conflict attractive….few dead, fewer to protest war.

Making war safer….one weapon at a time.

Any thoughts my friend?

Closing Thought–11Jun18

Since the 60’s and the “Free Love” Movement sex has become a source of many things…..ad agencies use it to sell products, Hollywood uses it to get the attention of their products and then there are some people that blame sex or more specifically “porn” for all the ills of society.

One of the best (that term was used sarcastically) statement about “porn” came from a GOP Congresswoman (go figure)…..we have had a rash of school shootings well a rash of all kinds of shootings and people look for a logical reason for these horrendous acts……the Congresswoman has hit it out of the park (again….sarcasm)…….

Republicans have long insisted that porn is destroying America, and GOP lawmakers have been quietly waging war on it in state legislatures for years—even if some of them seem to enjoy the stuff themselves. Now, a Tennessee congresswoman is taking the unfounded claim that porn is evil to new heights—arguing it’s somehow a “root cause” of America’s school shooting epidemic.

Diane Black, a Republican representative running for governor of Tennessee, made the comment at a listening session with a roomful of ministers last week, the Huffington Post reports. Discussing what she called the “root causes” of school shootings, she brushed off the fact that America is home to more than five times as many guns as any other country, instead pinning the blame on violent movies, the “deterioration of the family,” and smut.

“It’s available on the shelf when you walk in the grocery store,” Black said. “Yeah, you have to reach up to get it, but there’s pornography there. All of this is available without parental guidance. And I think that is a big part of the root cause.”

Speaking of smut……the governor of Missouri got caught with his pants down……figurative and possibly literally……he took pics of a woman without her consent……

Just hours before he left office Friday, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens signed scores of new laws, including a measure that makes it a crime to try to threaten a person using a private sexual image—the same allegation that led to his downfall, reports the AP. In the flurry of last-minute activity, the scandal-plagued governor approved 77 new laws, granted several pardons and commutations, and won at least a temporary reprieve in a court battle over campaign records. He posted a long Facebook message touting his accomplishments—without any mention of why he was quitting—and quietly left Capitol about an hour before his resignation took effect.

A short time later, fellow Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Parson was sworn in as Greitens’ successor and immediately pledged “to bring honor, integrity (and) transparency to the governor’s office.” The “revenge porn” law signed by Greitens creates a felony that will apply to cases when someone threatens the nonconsensual dissemination of a private sexual image by coercing another person to refrain from an action. The governor has been accused of taking a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an affair in 2015 and warning her he would distribute it if she ever spoke of their encounter. He has acknowledged having the affair but denied criminal wrongdoing and refused to directly answer questions about whether he took the photo.

If you thought they could get no worse than these two toads…….

Nathan Larson, a self-declared racist and ex-con who advocates for pedophilia and rape, is running for Congress in the 10th Congressional District of Virginia.

While speaking to HuffPost on Thursday, the 37-year-old independent candidate from Charlottesville told the publication he identifies as a “quasi-neoreactionary libertarian” who is open about his pedophilia so as to remain unconstrained by “political correctness.”

“A lot of people are tired of political correctness and being constrained by it,” Larson told the outlet. “People prefer when there’s an outsider who doesn’t have anything to lose and is willing to say what’s on a lot of people’s minds.”

(thehill,com)

Least we not forget the GOP governor of Alabama got caught having an affair on the state’s dime…..

And yet the GOP is suppose to be the moral high ground in politics…….now that is a big joke that only the GOP can believe….most are pervs of the first degree.

I use to give the “B3 Award” (Babbling Buffoons Of Babylon Award) in the earlier days of In Saner Thought….an award for those people that let their mouths overload their ass…..and there are many.